Making an electric
generator is a good way of learning the principles of
generators. It also is an exciting science project.

As a display project,
you just need to make it and demonstrate it's structure.
As an experimental project, you need to come up with
questions about the factors that may affect the rate of
production of electricity.

Question:

If you want to do this as an
experimental project, following are some suggested questions:

How does the speed of
turning affect the production of electricity?

How does the diameter of
wire coil affect the amount of electricity?

How does the number of loops
of wire in the coil affect the amount of electricity?

How does the diameter of
coil wire affect the electric current?

How do the material used in
the construction of an electric generator affect the
production of electricity?

Hypothesis:

Depending on the question that
you select, you may predict an answer. That is called your
hypothesis.

Dependent and Independent
Variables

The factor that you are testing
is your independent variable. For example the speed of turning
and diameter of wire are samples of independent variables. The
rate of production of electricity is the dependent variable.

Material:

Following are the material that
you need in order to construct a wooden electric generator.

Wood dowel 3/8"
diameter

Wood Dowel 1" diameter.

Rod magnet 3" long

Insulated copper wire 27 AWG,
200 feet

1.2 Volt Screw Base light
Bulb

Base for the light bulb

Small sand paper

Wood Glue

1/2 Square foot Balsa wood
(1/8" diameter)

Preparation:

If you are buying a kit, all
the wooden parts are included and they are already cut to the
size. So you just need to connect them. If you don't have a kit,
prepare the wooden parts as follows:

Cut two square pieces from
the balsa wood (3.5" x 3.5").

Make a 3/8" hole in the
center of each square.

Cut four 1" x 3 7/16.

Cut a 3/4" piece from
the 1" wood dowel. Make a 3/8" hole in the center
of it. Insert a 6" long 3/8" wood dowel in the
hole, apply some glue. center it and wait for it to dry.

Make another hole with the
diameter of your rod magnet in the center of the larger wood
dowel piece for the magnet to go through.

Wood dowels
after completing the step 4

Wood dowels
after completing the step 5

Adult
supervision and professional help is required for all cuttings
and hole makings.

Procedure:

Insert the magnet in the
hole of the wood dowel. Center it and use some glue to
secure it.

Use one large square balsa
wood and four smaller rectangular balsa woods to make a box.

Insert your wood dowel into
the hole in the center of the box. At this time the magnet
is inside the box.

Place the other large square
to complete the box. Apply some glue to the edges and wait
for the glue to dry. By now, you have a box and inside the
box you have a magnet that can spin when you spin the wood
dowel.

Wrap 200 turns of copper
wire around the box and use masking tape to secure it.

Remove the insulation from
the ends of the wire and connect it to the screws of the
bulb holder or base.

Insert the light bulb

Spin the wood dowel fast to
get the light.

You may
order wooden generator science set online. All parts are
cut to size and ready to use.

Wood glue, masking tape
and sand paper are not included. Additional wooden parts
may be included.

The high quality parts
included in this science set may be useful for many of
your future projects. All parts other than balsa wood
are reusable. You may purchase additional balsa wood
from craft stores for your future projects.